‘Fantasy-fuelled’ and ‘hyper-romantic’ are among the descriptors that spring to mind when waxing lyrical about previous LVMH Prize finalist and London Fashion Week darling, Ryan Lo. Reinventing saccharine-sweet season after season with candy-coloured tulle, lace and satin aplenty, his collections are the stuff of dreams.

After graduating from the London College of Fashion in 2011, Lo got a lucky break in the form of Lulu Kennedy and her talent incubator, Fashion East. Since, the British Fashion Council has lent a helping hand with their NEWGEN scheme, while the University of the Arts London have continued to champion him via their New Fashion Pioneer programme.

Heavily inspired by his upbringing in Hong Kong, the Chinese womenswear designer uses cultural iconography and references to cartoons in the planning stages for his garments; his sketches look somewhat like fairytale characters. Intrigued to learn what inspires such creations, we catechized Lo to delve into what gets his creative juices flowing…



“I live quite near the Olympic Stadium. Some days I work from home; other days I work in my Shoreditch office. I need to be inspired and creative all the time, so it is quite nice to have that freedom to decide whenever and wherever!”



“After SS19 with the princess bride and her white knight, I want to continue the story line – it also reflects our current times with the new Royal baby. For AW19, we collaborated with Silver Cross, the royal family baby vehicle of choice! Super posh! Then I start thinking about Horse carriages, Anna Karenina, Lady Oscar from Rose of Versailles... Something classic but cliche at the same time and almost let's be done with it.”



“The moment when things start to come together is always the most pleasurable! Lucky me to work with such great fabulous people time and time again.”



“This season, Sam McKnight did a Victorian rock and roll hair-do, Stephen Jones made some really cute Swan Lake inspired marabou ear muffs, and GINA did the most amazing footwear ranging from crushed pony skin knee boots to lace mesh duchess satin bow heels.”



“Everything in the studio should 'SPARK JOY'. I am a massive fan of Hello Kitty, so whenever I am in Hong Kong or Japan I will pick up a lot of stationery from there! There is also this set design from Gary Card years ago, it took up a lot of space but I still love it and kept it.”



“Currently I’m listening to 'LOVE THEME' from anime 'Galaxy Express 999'!”



“I do what I do because I LOVE it! It is my creative outlet. Making the collection is like writing a novel; I am Carrie Bradshaw and Jane Austen writing my romantic comedy, and my job is to build stories and narratives around the girls!”

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